Gold Stars: Fringe “The Firefly” 

The show really hit the ground running in 2011 with a Walter-centric episode. The emotion and the action was so good, I had to dole out three gold stars for some pretty amazing work.

1. John Noble. Throughout “The Firefly,” we see John Noble going through so many different aspects of Walter’s personality. In the opening scene after the first break, he engaged the mad genius aspect of his personality. He attempted to make a formula that would enable him to: 1) Regain his lost intellect in order to fight Walternate, his alternate persona; and 2) Understand the doomsday device. There were moments where we saw Walter’s desperate love for his son, Peter, and realized how far he would go in order to keep his son safe. In any other actor’s hands, some of Walter’s personality quirks could come off as being stilted or bordering on fake but Noble is able to, week after week, infuse his character with the depth that’s needed. Give this man some Emmy love. Please.

2. Joshua Jackson. In my opinion, the character of Peter Bishop, has taken more time to get established than any other major character on Fringe. But one thing that hasn’t changed is Joshua Jackson’s magnificent portrayal. In this episode, his interactions with Olivia had me on the edge of my seat. She was busy readjusting to her old life that she felt had been usurped by Bolivia. Peter wanted everything to be OK with Olivia, but they’re clearly not. Jackson excellently demonstrated the extreme awkwardness of the situation.

I also enjoyed Peter’s scenes with Walter where he was, once again, being the supportive yet challenging son. When Walter was concocting the formula, Peter was able remind his father, without any animosity, that there was a reason why parts of his brain were removed. Joshua Jackson could have played that interaction so differently but his nuanced performance conveyed that he knew that Walter made that decision years ago for a reason. Peter needed to be there to let his father know he was a better person for going the drastic route he did. Jackson’s performance was complex and exciting to watch.

3. Christopher Lloyd. My final gold star goes to the big guest star of the episode. It was great to see Christopher Lloyd playing Walter’s idol, Roscoe Jones. He’s best known for playing Reverend Jim on the TV sitcom Taxi as well as the mad scientist who helped Marty McFly time travel in the Back to the Future Trilogy. It’s quite interesting how Lloyd is playing a character on Fringe who has experienced the effects of time travel on his life as a result of Walter’s actions. The interplay between the two actors was phenomenal especially when Jones told Walter about his son’s dream. And with dawning horror, Walter realized Roscoe’s son was one of the causalities of his decision to save Peter. Although Lloyd was playing a mental patient, he came alive when he started to interact with Walter, and brought a fascinating character to life. I hope they find a way to revisit Roscoe Jones. I would love to see Lloyd guest star on this show again.